User blog:Cdc1998/A New Face at Bullworth: Part 9
(So I decided I'd start on this today instead of Thursday because I'm in the writing mood. Anyways, on to the chapter) It's now close to the beginning of April, and Charlie still is not back. Michael and I have tried contacting him, yet we always get his voicemail. He's definitely going to be in for an earfull when he listens to it. Things have been relatively calm around the academy, except for the usual clique issues. It's almost football season, which means that the football team is going to be running the school. Also, the nerds will probably try, and fail, to sabatoge their big game. From what I heard, they actually succeeded once, with the help of some kid named Jimmy Hopkins. Apparently he was a student here a few years ago. I guess he was pretty popular. It's a Monday afternoon. It's surprisingly nice outside. The sun is shining, very few clouds in the sky, not too windy. I'm usually used to dreary weather. Oh well, I'm happy it's finally nice out. I decide to wear an Aquaberry polo and some khaki slacks. When I look in the mirror I notice I have some facial hair stubble. It took ya long enough! I then walk outside, where I am greeted by some of the preps. I notice Tad, who's the leader, talking with some of the other preps near the small field. He's giving me a dirty look. I guess he still hates that I am not one of the stereotypical Bullworth Preps, and that I'm friends with Charlie. I decide to walk out towards the fountain, where I run into Ricky, one of the greasers. I accidentally bump past him and he gives me a look of disgust. "Out of the way, ya trust fund turd!" He screams at me. I look at him for a moment, but then decide not to say anything and continue walking. It doesn't matter if I try to explain myself, to the greasers, I am just nothing but a trust fund turd. I then hear my phone ring. I pull it out and see it's from Bradi. "Hey, Bradi. What's up?" I ask her. "Come to the parking lot, right now," She calmly replies. "What's going on?" I question. "You'll see when you get here. Jimmy and Michael are here with me. Hurry," She says, and then hangs up. I then begin to fast walk my way over to the parking lot. I don't want to tire myself out in case anything happens. When I make it over there I see Jimmy, Michael, and Bradi waiting for me. "Hey guys, what's happening?" I ask them as I walk up. "Look over there," Jimmy says, and points out towards the parking lot. I notice a familiar car. Wait a minute, that's Charlie's car! "He's back?!" I ask excitedly. "Yeah... But there's a problem; We haven't seen him. We've looked all around campus, called his Aunt and Uncle, nobody's seen him," Bradi replies. "Well it looks like the engine's still on," Jimmy notes. "Maybe he's just sitting in his car." "What could he be doing sitting in his car?" I question. "Perhaps he's saw us and is wondering what to say," Jimmy suggests. A few seconds go by until the door to the car opens. Due to the stereo being turned up very loud, we can hear the song playing on the radio. It's Take a Picture by Filter. Someone then steps out. It's noneother than Charlie. However, he looks a little different. He's wearing a black leather jacket, a white t-shirt, and a pair of jeans. His hair is also shorter. Well, not short short; It's how long it was before he started growing it out. He's shaved off his facial hair, although it seems it's slowly starting to grow back. Finally, his eyes are no longer puffy and bloodshot. You can actually fully see the ocean blue color of them. He stands there just looking at us for a few moments until he decides to speak up. "Hey... guys," Charlie says, rather awkwardly. "How ya doing?" Just then, Jimmy and Bradi walk up to Charlie. "Charlie... I'm sorry, man. I'm sorry about everything that happened between us. Bradi and I were being jerks for a while-" Jimmy responds, but gets cut off by Charlie. "Jimmy, I'm going to stop you right there. It's honestly my fault. I started the whole thing because I was hungover and I was being an ass. I should've just had the'' cojones'' to apologize earlier, and we would've never been in this whole situation with me leaving." "Honestly, we were all in the wrong. It's all water under the bridge. It's just great to have you back, Charlie," Jimmy replies. Bradi then hugs Charlie, who seems suprised at first, but then reciprocates the action. "You idiot, don't ever do that to us again," Bradi says to Charlie. "I'll try my best," Charlie replies. "Michael, Edgar, get over here! I don't want to leave you guys out." Michael and I then walk over to Charlie. Michael and Charlie bro hug and start talking, until we all decide to just head back to Michael's dorm room. When we get there we all sit down and get to catching up, asking Charlie where all he's traveled, what's he been doing, etc. Michael then goes into a drawer and pulls out a little bag of marijuana, and tosses it to Charlie. "I held onto the stash you left for whenever you came back," Michael states. "If you want, you can smoke it now. You probably need it." "Actually, no," Charlie replies, and tosses it back to Michael. "I actually gave up smoking," He continues, which surprises all of us. "Wait, what?" Bradi confusingly asks. "I gave up smoking," Charlie repeats. "Why? How?" "During my time gone, I traveled, a lot, Charlie begins to explain. "First, I went back to my hometown. Caught up with a few old people. I was as high as a kite when I did it. It's a wonder I didn't get arrested. Then, I started traveling west. When I was in Las Venturas, I was traveling through the desert, not on a horse with no name, just alone with my thoughs with the radio playing in the background. I started thinking about everything, everything I was getting away from, everything I missed, but like the dumbass I am, I didn't come back. I ended up in Los Santos, where I stayed with a cousin. I was still smoking pot every day, just to forget about everything and try to ease my stress, but it didn't work. I remember once when I was going to go smoke, I was walking down the streets of Downtown L.S. and I noticed a lot of things; junkies passed out in alleys, junkies on corners trying to get people to give them money so they can go score, hell, these two psychos even tried to steal an ATM so they could score. I noticed all of this and realized how drugs can ruin you. Sure, I only smoked pot, but I thought to myself, 'What if I move on to something harder? Do I want to end up like some of these people? End up OD'd in an alley with a needle in my arm? End up OD'd in a cheap motel? End up ruining my looks?' Sure, I'm average looking, but I don't want to ruin my looks. I don't want to end up ruining my life all over drugs. Now, you're probably thinking, 'Well, Charlie, it's just pot, it's not that bad.' But, I didn't want to end up moving on to something harder and adding to the stereotype that marijuana is a gateway drug. It's not a gateway drug. It's people's choices to move on to something else. Look, basically, I don't want to fuck up my life more than it's already fucked up. So, I decided to stop smoking for a start. Now, I'm going to try to get the rest of my life together. I need to get my grades back up, I need to get in shape since I'm basically a walking twig, I just want to be a better person. Do you all understand?" After Charlie finishes talking, the room goes quiet. I don't think anyone expected any of this. After a few moments of silence, Michael speaks up. "It's great and all that you quit smoking, bud, but you don't need to change yourself." "Trust me, Michael, it's for the best. Don't worry, I still be the stupid, lovable, detached-from-the-conversation friend you've come to know me as. But I'm doing this for me. It's going to be for the better, for my health, and me overall. Plus, this place may actually smell nice for once, and not like Jamacia," Charlie says. "That is, if you're okay with me moving back in." "I've been waiting for your ass to move back in," Michael replies. "Of course I'm fine with it." Just then, Charlie stands up, and begins speaking. "It's great to be back, guys. Seriously, it is. I don't know why I was such a moron and left. I've missed this." Michael, Bradi, and Jimmy then get up and they all group hug Charlie. "Edgar, get over here and stop being on the sidelines," Charlie tells me. I then go and join in. "Alright, I'd love to stay and hug all day, but I seriously need to go see my Aunt and Uncle. They're going to kill me if they know I'm back and I didn't visit them," He continues. "Yeah, Bradi and I have to head out too," Jimmy replies. "Same for me. I'm kinda tired and could use a nap, I'll talk to you all later," I respond. I then leave the dorm room and exit outside. As I'm walking I look up at the sky. It's very beautiful out. It's basically the same weather as earlier, only slightly chillier. You know, I can't help but feel it's all due to everything happening. Charlie's back, nobody in our friend group is arguing anymore, things are finally back to normal. I'm actually happy Charlie quit smoking. It'll be better for him in the long run. I'm hoping he does go through with what he said. Honestly, I'm just happy that things are going well. It's been a long time since they have. I'm hoping it stays this way, and nothing screws it up. Category:Blog posts